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How much wood does a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck would chuck wood? – Part 4

The Nature’s Gym volunteers really are getting in to the art of the woodchip footpath having previously done it at a Local School , De Frene Road allotments and Burnt Ash Pond. Luckily they still seem to enjoy it, in fact they are finding new ways of improving the task. They were also able to use previously unknown and hidden talents of pleats and box pleats while laying the root represent!

All hands on deck to clear the path

But before all that the route of the path had to be clear of..roots! Thanks to Robert from the Friends of Ladywell Fields, most of this had been done already, but there was still a little more to do. While some mattocked others dug and cleared litter – all very important work. Once they way had been cleared we could start laying the geotextile.

Getting to grips with box pleats

Raking and barrowing

Soon the path was ready for the woodchip, we wanted to make sure that the material we had laid down already was completely covered. We had plenty of people on hand to fill and push barrows, as well as rake! While all of this was going on other volunteers were clearing the site of invasive species which would allow for more light in to the site. At the other end of the site a few more volunteers continued to clear the path. As they did so, they unearthed and old herringbone footpath which we think must have been the remains of the old garden. Look out for photos of this in the next couple of months. We will post some here once the unearthing is complete. Robert also took on the task of building a few steps, what started of as one ended up being three! For a first attempt I think you will all agree that they look pretty smashing.

Robert’s Steps

Almost there!

Meanwhile at the other end, the path was really taking shape, in fact those beavering volunteers got the path finished – well 30m out of 60m – but they finished everything we hoped to achieve on that day!